FOX 13's Evan Axelbank shares Governor DeSantis' announcement on Wednesday to appoint Blaise Ingoglia as Florida's CFO.

Florida

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has selected State Senator Blaise Ingoglia as the state's new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), announcing the appointment at an event in Tampa. Ingoglia will enter a primary race against Joe Gruters, who was previously endorsed for the position by former President Donald Trump. 

DeSantis emphasized Ingoglia's conservative record and support for his policies, while Gruters' campaign responded by aligning closely with Trump's agenda and hiring two of Trump's top advisers. The appointment has sparked debate within the Republican Party, with DeSantis downplaying any renewed conflict with Trump and noting that Ingoglia had supported Trump in the past.

DeSantis appoints Blaise Ingoglia as Florida's CFO

Well the choice for Florida's new CFO is Spring Hill State Senator Blaise Ingolia. Governor DeSantis announced his pick today at a hotel in Tampa and it sets up a potential political war between the governor's camp and President Trump's. FOX 13's Evan Axelbank is in the newsroom to explain a little bit more about why, Evan. Allie, Blaise Ingolia will enter a primary race against Joe Gruders who was endorsed for the job by President Trump in March of last year, but the governor said no way would he have appointed Gruders given his record. The Gruders camp is fighting fire with their own. What Governor DeSantis is trying to say is, if George Washington rose from the dead and came back and tapped me on the shoulder and said, will you appoint Joe Gruders CFO, my response would be, no I can't do that. That's partly why Blaise Ingolia was the one on stage at the Tampa Grand Hyatt Wednesday being tapped for state CFO, despite the president's 2024 endorsement of Sarasota Senator Joe Gruders. I am appointing the most conservative senator in the state of Florida, someone that has a very clear record as a warrior. For not only the governor's policies, but also his politics. Yes, he fought against the House's effort to strip immigration power from the governor. Yes, he battled against the recreational marijuana amendment. Yes, he pushed for the governor's property tax reform priority. But he also fought for the governor in his 2024 presidential primary against Trump. If Blaise supported the Perez Gruders amnesty bill, he would not be standing on this stage today. That's just the truth. And I like him personally, but it doesn't matter. It's all about the record. The Gruders camp is firing back with news that they hired two of Trump's top advisers to manage his campaign and with a wink to Republican primary voters who chose Trump in the 2024 presidential primary. Their statement said today, appointing a never trumper for CFO over Trump's endorsed candidate will be viewed as a direct rebuke to the MAGA agenda and will end up just like DeSantis is other anti MAGA efforts. Trump's endorsement of Gruders for CFO came in March of last year, in which he said Gruders did more than anyone to turn Florida red. I do understand that there are powerful forces that are backing his bid. I personally don't think that they know just how bad his legislative record is. As he prepares to take over the state office that oversees the budget, the insurance industry and wildfire response, he argues the best way to campaign is to do a good job. If I know that somebody is gaming the system, I'm going to call the CEO of that company and I'm going to tell him to cut the crap because my job first and foremost is to protect consumers. The governor downplayed the possibility of reigniting a war with Donald Trump. He noted that the president said recently that he has a great relationship with the governor and that he never mentioned the CFO endorsement to him. It remains to be seen how the president himself will react to this appointment ahead of the 2026 primary, which is now just over a year away. It should also be said that Angolia is far from a never trumper. He was one of the president's top surrogates in the 2020 race alley. Sounds like this battle is just beginning. All right, Evan Axelbank in our newsroom tonight. Evan, thank you.

The Department of Justice has fired Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor and the daughter of ex-FBI director James Comey. This comes as the White House tries to mitigate demands for the Jeffrey Epstein files to be released.

Washington

DOJ fires Maurene Comey, who helped prosecute Jeffrey Epstein

The Senate approved a $9.4 billion rescissions request, sending it back to the House of Representatives for approval.

Senate approves spending cuts to foreign aid, public broadcasting

Israel has faced international condemnation over its three days of airstrikes in Syria. The European Union and the United Nations have called for a return to calm, while Iran has urged countries in the region to respond against Israel.

Damascus

Middle East Conflict

World reacts to Israeli attacks on Syria’s Damascus

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz makes his first state visit to the United Kingdom to sign a historic defence cooperation treaty—the first of its kind between Germany and Britain since the Second World War. The agreement includes plans for joint defence efforts, boosting economic collaboration, and tackling illegal migration.

London

Germany and UK seal historic defence pact

Donald Trump says American-made weapons bought by NATO are being shipped to Ukraine. Trump's also threatening sanctions, saying his aim is to force Putin to negotiate an end to the war. But with Ukraine under nightly attack, there’s scepticism over whether he'll achieve anything.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

U.S. ships NATO purchased Patriot missiles to Ukraine

Syria condemns Israel for fatal strikes on several government buildings in Damascus. The escalation threatens to disrupt new U.S.-brokered security talks between Israel and Syria, with both sides expressing concerns over stability in the region.

Israeli airstrikes on Syria threaten security talks

U.S. President Donald Trump is still dealing with fallout from his own supporters over his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. CBS News Department of Justice reporter Jake Rosen has more.

Trump says Epstein conspiracy theory is hoax started by Democrats

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that she spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and that the two had agreed to strengthen trade collaboration, particularly in light of the tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump set to go in effect on August 1.

Mexico City

Global Tariffs

Mexico plans to strengthen trade with Canada

Former President Barack Obama joined his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, on her latest podcast episode with her brother Craig Robinson to address divorce rumors.

Obamas address divorce rumors on Michelle’s podcast

Israel struck Syrian military targets as well as central Damascus on Wednesday (July 16) as it continued its campaign to protect Druze minority communities in southern Syria.

Israel strikes Damascus as fighting rages in southern Syria

U.S. ambassador Mike Huckabee's appearance at Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial follows President Trump's call for Israel to throw out the case or pardon the Israeli prime minister.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

U.S. ambassador attends Netanyahu trial to show support from Trump

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. would impose a 19% tariff on goods from Indonesia under a new agreement with the Southeast Asian country and more deals were in the works as he continued to press for what he views as better terms with trading partners.

Trump eyes more trade deals soon as EU readies retaliation

At least 20 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday (July 16) at an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in what the U.S.-backed group said was a crowd surge instigated by armed agitators. This video contains graphic images.

Jerusalem

Crush at Gaza aid site kills at least 20, GHF blames agitators

Police in Los Angeles have arrested a 22-year-old suspect in the double homicide of American Idol executive Robin Kaye and her husband, Thomas Deluca. The couple, both 70 years old, was found shot to death in their home earlier this week.

Encino

Police make arrest in murders of American Idol executive, husband

Streaming shows dominated nominations for the 2025 Emmy Awards. "Severance" earned the most series nominations with 27. Meanwhile, "The Studio" earned the most-ever nominations for a debut comedy series with 23.

Hollywood

'Severance' and 'The Studio' earn top Emmy nominations

The United Torah Judaism party has decided to quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition over its failure to secure military service exemptions. Members of the ultra-orthodox community have been exempted from enlisting in the army since 1948.

Major cracks in Netanyahu coalition as ultra-Orthodox party quits

New information about the Jeffrey Epstein case may soon be made public after a reversal from U.S. President Donald Trump and weeks of criticism — the loudest of which has come from within the MAGA movement.

Epstein files may be released after Trump reversal

Russia's Vladimir Putin has rejected President Trump's ultimatum for Moscow to sign a ceasefire deal with Ukraine in the next 50 days. Trump has threatened to issue a 100% tariff on any country that does business with Russia if no ceasefire deal is reached.

Moscow

Russia rejects Trump's ultimatum for ceasefire in Ukraine

Fighting has erupted in the southern Syrian city of As Suwayda just six hours after a ceasefire was announced. Earlier on Tuesday, Syrian government forces withdrew heavy vehicles from the city, hoping to ease tensions.

As Suwayda

Fighting erupts in Syria’s As Suwayda hours after ceasefire deal

Two laptops and hard drives containing watermarked and unreleased music by Beyoncé were stolen from her choreographer’s rental car in Atlanta, according to police.

Atlanta

Unreleased Beyoncé music stolen from choreographer’s rental car

The House Committee on Education and Workforce is holding its ninth hearing in 18 months on antisemitism on college campuses. CBS News' Shanelle Kaul has more details.

Anger at House committee hearing on antisemitism in college campuses

An Air India Boeing airplane crashed in northwestern India in June, killing all people on board but one passenger. India's aviation regulator has now ordered airlines to examine fuel control switches on several Boeing models.

New Delhi

India orders airlines to inspect Boeing airplane models after crash

Controversy on Capitol Hill over the so-called Epstein Files is seemingly not going away anytime soon.

House Republicans block Democratic push to release Epstein documents

An Israeli scheme to move hundreds of thousands of already uprooted Palestinians to a so-called "humanitarian city" in Gaza has led politicians to spar with the defense establishment. Critics inside and outside Israel have denounced the proposal.

Critics slam Israeli scheme to move Gazans to 'humanitarian city'

At least two people were killed in a New Jersey flash flooding event, Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday morning as heavy rains are expected to continue battering the Northeast. CBS News' Rob Marciano has more details.

New Jersey

Two killed in New Jersey flash flooding

After over a week of negotiations in Doha, a truce in Gaza remains elusive, despite intensified efforts by mediators. The stalemate continues as both Hamas and Israel trade blame over ongoing strikes.

Doha

Gaza truce still out of reach after Doha talks

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump's administration to resume dismantling the Department of Education, part of his bid to shrink the federal government's role in education in favor of more control by the states.

U.S. Supreme Court clears way for Trump to gut Education Department

Syria's government troops entered the Sweida region following deadly clashes on Tuesday, while Israel carried out strikes against them, saying it was acting to protect the Druze minority.

Syrian forces enter Sweida city following deadly clashes

Heavy rains slammed the Northeast and caused flash floods in the New York City subway system. CBS News' Rob Marciano has the latest.

New York

Flash flooding pummels NYC and slams subway lines

US President Donald Trump told Russia to end its war in Ukraine within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions, as he laid out plans for infusions of weaponry for Kyiv via NATO. "We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100 percent," Trump said.

Breakdown